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Peter Sinks, UT Climate


IbrChris

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List of largest diurnal ranges at Peter Sinks (2010-2019):

 

74 degrees (28/-46) on 2/22/2010

73 degrees (39/-34) on 3/5/2013

72 degrees (41/-31) on 12/3/2017

70 degrees (35/-35) on 3/20/2010

68 degrees (47/-21) on 12/2/2017

68 degrees (25/-43) on 12/5/2016

68 degrees (47/-21) on 10/28/2010

67 degrees (36/-31) on 2/24/2015

67 degrees (41/-26) on 11/23/2015

67 degrees (18/-49) on 2/2/2011

66 degrees (24/-42) on 12/7/2017

66 degrees (42/-24) on 12/4/2017

66 degrees (24/-42) on 12/8/2016

66 degrees (35/-31) on 3/12/2014

65 degrees (34/-31) on 3/7/2018

65 degrees (37/-28) on 2/13/2017

65 degrees (36/-29) on 3/19/2016

65 degrees (28/-27) on 11/22/2015

65 degrees (37/-28) on 2/8/2010

 

Interestingly, there are a lot of places that have large diurnal changes in Utah, but in all those places it's the opposite season that has them.  November through March is the least likely time to have a huge dirunal change everywhere in Utah except Peter Sinks it seems.

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Interestingly, there are a lot of places that have large diurnal changes in Utah, but in all those places it's the opposite season that has them.  November through March is the least likely time to have a huge dirunal change everywhere in Utah except Peter Sinks it seems.

Peter Sinks can still post some 60-ish degree diurnal swings in summer too. It has to do with the winds going calm allowing for a decoupling between the sink bottom and the rim. This decoupling can produce a 30-40 degree temp gradient over about a 300' elevation change. In summer the nights are shorter and hence the strength of the cold pool isn't as pronounced as winter when you have longer nights and snowcover.

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The Pacific Northwest: Where storms go to die.

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It appears the low was -44. Since the temperature is currently rising, it probably won't get lower than that this morning.

 

I'm wondering if a new monthly record was set in Wyoming as well. Big Piney dropped to -26 this morning, also -25 at Old Faithful. RAWS and Snotel readings will be interesting to look at from this morning. 

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I'm wondering if a new monthly record was set in Wyoming as well. Big Piney dropped to -26 this morning, also -25 at Old Faithful. RAWS and Snotel readings will be interesting to look at from this morning.

Too bad the West Yellowstone MT station is no longer operating. I wonder how cold it was there?

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I'm wondering if a new monthly record was set in Wyoming as well.

Possibly Colorado as well? Craig got down to at least -9 and Walden to at least -13, so there might be a -20 out there somewhere. I wonder what Maybell was? Can't find the current temp online.

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-23 at Randolph, UT (coldest ever at an inhabited place in Utah)

-26 at Keystone, WY

-25 at Foxpark, WY
-33 at Rock River, WY (UPR station...may be inaccurate but within realm of possibility given the -20 at Rawlins ASOS).

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Possibly Colorado as well? Craig got down to at least -9 and Walden to at least -13, so there might be a -20 out there somewhere. I wonder what Maybell was? Can't find the current temp online.

 

-17 at a CWOP station in Hebron...coldest I've seen so far this morning in Colorado. Definitely could have been a -20 reading somewhere. 

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-17 at a CWOP station in Hebron...coldest I've seen so far this morning in Colorado. Definitely could have been a -20 reading somewhere. 

 

Just got to work on a project north of Craig.    It is currently sitting at -11 just after 10 AM.    I assume it was colder at sunrise.

 

20191030_092539.jpg

 

 

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I'm wondering if a new monthly record was set in Wyoming as well. Big Piney dropped to -26 this morning, also -25 at Old Faithful. RAWS and Snotel readings will be interesting to look at from this morning. 

 

Looks like the Old Faithful COOP bumped down to -27 this morning. The previous monthly record low was -11. 

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Two unofficial stations in Wyoming tied the state October record low (and the previous official lower 48 record low for October) - the -33 reading at Soda Butte in 1917.

 

This morning, -33 was observed at a Union Pacific weather station (UR345) and a Wyoming DOT station (WY56), both part of the MesoWest network. 

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Possibly Colorado as well? Craig got down to at least -9 and Walden to at least -13, so there might be a -20 out there somewhere. I wonder what Maybell was? Can't find the current temp online.

 

Found one. -21 at a CoAgMet station in Jefferson. So, both Colorado and Utah had unofficial stations that broke the previous state record lows for October.

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Here's the list of coldest official station October minimums for Wyoming as it appears right now:

 

-33 at Soda Butte (10/29/1917)

-29 at Saratoga (10/30/2019)

-27 at Old Faithful (10/30/2019)

-26 at South Pass City (10/31/1935)

 

Big Piney was also -26 this morning.  

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Here's the list of coldest official station October minimums for Wyoming as it appears right now:

 

-33 at Soda Butte (10/29/1917)

-29 at Saratoga (10/30/2019)

-27 at Old Faithful (10/30/2019)

-26 at South Pass City (10/31/1935)

This is what I have:

 

-33 Soda Butte (YNP) 10/29/1917

-29 Old Faithful Lodge (YNP) 10/30/2019

-29 Saratoga 4 N 10/30/2019

-27 Lake Yellowstone (YNP) 10/29/1917

-26 Big Piney Ap 10/30/2019

-26 Encampment 10/30/2019

-26 Keystone 10/30/2019

-26 Nugget Canyon 10/30/2019

-26 Sweetwater Station 4 SW 10/30/2019

-26 Recluse 14 NNW 10/30/1991

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Two unofficial stations in Wyoming tied the state October record low (and the previous official lower 48 record low for October) - the -33 reading at Soda Butte in 1917.

 

This morning, -33 was observed at a Union Pacific weather station (UR345) and a Wyoming DOT station (WY56), both part of the MesoWest network. 

Not buying the Rock River reading (UR345) after seeing their high temp the day prior was around -14. I took a look at all the surrounding stations and there seems to be a cold bias at Rock River.

The Pacific Northwest: Where storms go to die.

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Not buying the Rock River reading (UR345) after seeing their high temp the day prior was around -14. I took a look at all the surrounding stations and there seems to be a cold bias at Rock River.

 

Interesting info, thanks for looking into it. There's probably a good reason why transportation wx stations (DOT or railroad) aren't considered official. 

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Interesting info, thanks for looking into it. There's probably a good reason why transportation wx stations (DOT or railroad) aren't considered official.

Which is funny cause Prospect Creek, Alaska was a DOT station iirc. -80 there is the national cold record.

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Apparently, the COOP at Daniel Fish Hatchery in Wyoming hit -34. This would be the new official state record for WY for October. Any thoughts on this reading, Chris or Scott? It seems probable. This station averages a minimum of -4 in January so it is a very cold location. 

 

It does seem a bit cold for the location (nearby Big Piney is usually colder and hit "only" -26), but it could be possible.    If it is valid, the reading is incredible and is almost as cold as January's record.  

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It does seem a bit cold for the location (nearby Big Piney is usually colder and hit "only" -26), but it could be possible.    If it is valid, the reading is incredible and is almost as cold as January's record.  

 

To be fair, this station has only existed since 1989 and January has been a stinker in the current era. This station hit -50 on 12/22/1990 - I am sure January has seen -50 at that location in past decades...

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  • 1 year later...

I "accidentally" found a cold air sink last night/this morning; this time in a sink east of Twin Lakes in the Flat Tops Wilderness of Colorado. I set up the tent in the sink it case it got windy since there was only sparse tree cover around and the only other group at the lake took the campsite with tree shelter.   The elevation of the campsite was ~11,030 feet.

I took a recording min/max themometer.   When I went to bed, it was 23F.  By midnight it had dropped to 14F and the overnight low was 6F.   That's pretty cold considering the temperature wasn't recorded during a cold snap and that it is early September.  I wonder what the winter temperatures would be there?

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